Prologue

Somewhere between the Rainforest Kingdom and the Mud Kingdom, raced a small golden griffon. She was clutching a egg, a griffin egg. She was frantically flying away from her pursers…Dragons. Dragons that wanted her and the egg.

Following close behind, was a trio of heavily armored SkyWing guards. They were chasing the terrified creature. Beating her wings feverishly, the golden griffon flew into the thick, fluffy, clouds. She sighed with relief as no SkyWings popped up after her. There she was safe. For a while at least. She caught her breath and oscillated on.

Below the clouds, three frustrated SkyWing soldiers yelled at each one another. "We can't let her get away! Queen Phoenix will have our heads!" The first guard vociferated at the others. And it was true; everybody knew that the SkyWing Queen had a gruesome reputation of mounting dragon heads on her bedroom wall.

The soldiers all shivered at the revolting thought. "Come on, we can't let her get away with the egg! Let's hurry before we can't track her spoor anymore!" The second one shouted, agreeing. The dragons shot off, tracking the griffon's spicy scent through the blanket of the mist-like fluff.

The small griffon was flying at a casual pace through the skies, checking just a once a while to see if any dragons were there. But surely the SkyWings couldn't have followed her, right? Just then, puffs of mist blew up to her right and three SkyWing heads poked through the clouds, leaving the griffon paralyzed.

With a screech the griffon bolted away but it was too late. The lead solider had already dislodged his spear and it pierced through the clouds, wounding the runaway griffon. The griffon gasped, forcing herself to stay conscious and held the egg closer to her body as if that could keep it safe.

Agony blossomed in her chest as the blade stabbed at her, making blood pour through the wound. She blinked her eyes warily and slowly, desperation written all over her features. Hot tears stung at the back of her eyes. Was everything just lost like this. Winds tugged at her body, making her feel even worse.

Pain. Regret. Pain Regret.

While she plummeted, the soldiers desperately tried to stop the griffon from falling. Queen Phoenix had wanted the griffon back alive for her purposes. But most of all, the one thing she wanted most, was griffon's possession. The egg... griffin egg... the last heir of their kind...

Long ago, griffons had ruled Pyrhia until a new species came. Dragons. Afraid there wasn't enough territory to share, the two sides constantly fought, shedding much blood. Many of both had died, griffin and dragon blood had stained the territories, filled the trenches, and covered the skies.

The dragons, being more powerful, larger and advanced, often won and tried to get rid of the griffins all together after winning the war overall. But not every last griffon had died. There was that few that had survived, gathering up the remainders of their group and building up their army again.

The griffins soon began to develop more and more, secretly, as eggs stacked their nursery walls. The Queens soon realized all this and started to send out search parties to find the the griffins and the future queen, still in an egg. At last, Queen Phoenix's guards had spotted a suspicious griffon, carrying a golden egg.

And now, just a few tail-lengths away, the griffin queen's egg lay before them, only that one griffin in between the moment of success for all dragons. But the griffin messenger, the one the Queen of the Griffins had trusted, felt much guilt as she plunged to the stony, hard earth.

The spear had drawn a lightning shaped scar into her back and a river of blood was created in the sky. She began to close her eyes. Is this it? The griffon thought regretfully. Is...is this egg, the griffin's only and last final hope, supposed to break..and die? She closed her eyes fully, her heart starting to crack itself.

A soft breeze billowed next to her, calmly, peacefully, almost as if nothing was wrong. Suddenly a burning sensation filled up inside of her and she snapped her eyes open. Fire sizzled through her, spreading from the tip of her wings to her talons. It nurtured her. Healing her. She felt... almost hopeful.

The griffon clicked her wings apart, beating them so that she landed lightly on the ground. She now knew what to do: Save the egg. The words repeated inside of her, insisting for her to continue. Tall trees loomed below her and she quickly made up a plan. Save the egg. Save it... Save it... Save it...

Dizzily, yet determined, she flew off the branch and landed on the ground, trotting clumsily towards the RainWing village. The griffon Queen depended on her. She had to keep the egg safe. But she couldn't right now. She was too weak and bound to die soon. When she reached the RainWing village, no one was awake, just as she had planned.

She went straight to the nursery and quietly snuck in. Warm drafts of air blew into the nursery. The griffon sighed softly, almost mournfully. There were many eggs here. All brightly colored, some big, some small. The griffin egg would be safe here and raised with the RainWings.

She knew for certain this time, no doubts at all, that the tiny creature inside the egg she held would like it here. After all, the RainWings were a peaceful tribe. They hated war and often went against it. They would not hurt a baby griffon. The griffon was content. She had done her job and now her life was complete.

My mission's finished, the griffon thought. She then dragged herself away, just out of RainWing territory, but not yet on SkyWing. She lay beneath a mango tree, thinking quietly to herself. Live well. The griffon thought. Live well, and fulfill your duty as the last griffon heir. And always have hope, young queen.

She felt no remorse of what had happened. The other tribes wouldn't find the griffin; the future queen was going to be out of harm' way. And with that thought, the griffon closed her eyes, letting her life seep out of her. No sadness, no rue; she felt tranquil.

Okay, I know. That was, like, REALLY short. But, it's a prologue, and it doesn't have to be tremendously long or something. But anyways...the rest of the story will be longer...hopefully...:)